Improvement in track-clearers



A. J. GOVE.

Track-Cleaners.

Patented Jan-7, 1873.

ii" Inventur @ZM/M \Vitnesses m a UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW J. GOVE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, GALIFORBEIA.

IM PROVEMENT IN TRACK-CLEARERS.

Specification formingpart of Letters Patent No. 134,660, dated January7, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW J. Govn, of San Francisco city and county,State of Galifornia, have invented a Combined Snow-Plow and Excavator;and do hereby declare the following description and accompanying drawingare sufficient to enable any person skilled, in the art or science towhich it most nearly appertains to make and use my said inventionwithout further invention or experiment.

My invention consists in combining in one machine an ordinary snow-plowand a digging and lifting machine, such as is frequently used as adredger, and which is known as the clamshell dredger.

In order to more fully illustrate and explain my invention, reference ishad to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, inwhich- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my machine.

mold-boards, such as are represented herewitl1--will readily clear thetrack so as to allow the locomotive and train to proceed; but where thesnow has accumulated to a depth of several feet, as it usually does incuts, or has become packed, this class of plows become useless onaccount of their inability to clear themselves. In order to provide forremoving the snow in this case, I secure a crane or derrick, B, upon thesnow-plow A, by means of a swivel attachment, so that it shall extend atan angle out in front of the plow A, in the manner of constructing theswiveling crane of the clam-shell dredger. To the upper extremity ofthis crane a strong metal eye, 0, is secured horizontally, and a mast,d, passes down vertically through the eye, to the lower end of which thesectional scoops or buckets D D, called the clam-shells, are attached. Ayoke, .E, is secured to the lower end of the mast d,

y and the upper meeting-corners of the two sectional buckets areattached to the extremities of the yoke, as shown, so that when theyhang by this attachment the weight of the buckets will keep them closed.A block, f, is arranged to'slide up and down along the mast, and thisblock is connected with the outer corners of each of the buckets D D bythe four'links g g g g. A cord or chain, h, is attached to the block f,and passes up to the end of the crane and over a pulley; thence itpasses to the deck of the plow A.

Now, when the chain It is drawn upon the block f is raised, and thelinks g, drawing upon the outer corners of the buckets, open them intoposition for grasping a load.

A cord or chain, j, is attached to the under side of the block, andpasses down over a pulley on the lower endof the mast; thence up over apulley, K, and down to the deck of the plow A. This chain serves to drawthe block f downward, and allows the buckets to close by gravity, asabove described, by releasing the pull upon the outer corners. A thirdcord or chain, K, is attached to the upper end of this mast, and passesdown over a pulley at l, and to the deck of the plow. This cord servesto hold the mast down when the buckets are being closed in taking up aload. By this means I am enabled to operate the two sectional bucketswith a single mast; and at the same time the arrangement is simple,strong, and easily operated. The lower meeting-edges of the bucket D arearmed with strong curved teeth 1), which alternate on the opposite edgesso as to interlock when the buckets are closed. These teeth should bemade of steel, and should have their points and side edges sharpened soas to form picks for digging in ice or packed snow.

Instead of attaching the links 9 9 directly to the outer corners of thebuckets D D, I have represented an extension or side piece, g, which ishinged to the upper outside edges,

and to which the links 9 g are attached. These extensions serve toprevent the snow from falling from the sides of the buckets, and presenta strong and effective attachment for the links.

This digging and lifting machine can be operated from the deck of thesnow-plow by means of steam taken from the locomotive-boiler in themanner of working the ordinary steamdredger of the clam-shell class.

Now, it will be seen that when the ordinary mold-boards of the plow Acease to be effective, by reason of the depth or solidity of the snow,the buckets-D D can be employed to lift and carry it around to the sideof the track and dump it out of the way. It is calculated that a pair ofbuckets of this class, which are capable of grasping and removing eightcubic yards of snow in a single load, can readily be operated by thesteam-power from an ordinary locomotive At this rate an embankment ofpacked snow can be removed with great rapidity, and the train allowed toproceed.

In ice or packed snow the teeth will serve as picks to break up andloosen the load, and for this work the cord or chain K is used to holdthe mast firm when the buckets are being closed upon the ice.

Having thus described my invention, what crane is attached to and thebuckets operatedfrom the deck of a snow-plow, A, substantially as andfor the purpose above described.

In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand and seal.

ANDREW J. GOVE. [L. s.]

Witnesses: 1

JOHN L. BO0NE, O. M. RICHARDSON.

